This invention relates to portable data storage cartridges having data storage drives contained therein, and, more importantly, to the provision of an external interface for a portable data storage cartridge which is coupled to the data storage drive contained in the cartridge.
Portable data storage cartridges typically comprise a data storage media, such as magnetic tape, which are inserted into a separate data storage drive so that data may be read and/or written on the data storage media. Such cartridges are convenient means of storing large quantities of data which are accessed occasionally. They are particularly useful in automated data storage libraries which can contain large numbers of the cartridges on storage shelves, and which employ a robot accessor to access a cartridge when needed and deliver the cartridge to a data storage drive.
The typical portable cartridge employs a data storage media, such as a length of magnetic tape, and must be inserted into the data storage drive, opened, and the tape wound or rewound to gain access to the desired data. Should access be desired to additional data on the length of tape, the tape again must be wound or rewound to gain access to the desired data.
It is well known to those of skill in the art that a magnetic disk drive provides significantly quicker access to data than does a length of magnetic tape. An effort to reduce the to time to gain access to desired data therefore comprises placing a data storage drive, such a a magnetic disk drive assembly, or a portion of a data storage drive, such as a pack of disks, in a portable cartridge. The use of a pack of disks is not desirable, because of the inability to seal the drive assembly from debris, which leads to a significant reduction in data density and therefore capacity. A pluggable head and disk assembly allows sealing, but has difficulty providing a reliable repeatable, releasable connector for coupling the head signals to the remainder of the electronic circuitry of the drive. An example comprises Japanese Publication 05189861, published Jul. 30, 1993. Portable modular disk drives, not intended for repeated coupling and decoupling use in automated data storage libraries, have been disclosed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,253,133 and 6,154,360 are examples. The disk drive of U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,360 additionally shows a flex cable and three shock pads, but a PCB connector of the drive is placed at the same end of the cartridge as the cable connector of the cartridge, and a flex cable between the two is very short and wound over a shock pad, limiting its flexibility. As the result, a plurality of slits are cut in the flex cable to provide a measure of lateral flexibility. Additionally, a single pluggable connector is employed to connect to the drive, which may have reliability concerns if connected and disconnected often.
With the use of a data storage drive in a portable cartridge, upon inserting the portable data storage cartridge in a transfer station port, the drive can be brought up to speed and the data accessed. Once the drive is at speed, additional data can be accessed quickly.
However, as discussed above, an issue comprises the repeatability and reliability of the connection between the external interface of the portable data storage cartridge and the interface of the transfer station port. Additionally, in an automated data storage library, the time required to find, access, transport, and load the cartridge in the drive, before accessing the desired data, remains significant.
An object of the present invention is to provide greater reliability of the connection between an external interface of a portable data storage cartridge containing a data storage drive and an interface of a transfer station port.
Another object of the present invention is to provide for a reduced time to access desired data of a portable data storage cartridge containing a data storage drive, when the cartridge is stored on a storage shelf of an automated data storage library.
A portable data storage drive cartridge is disclosed with external interfaces positioned respectively at opposite ends of a cartridge shell. The external interfaces are arranged to present similar external interfaces when the cartridge shell is respectively in a first direction and when the cartridge shell is rotated end over end to a reverse direction with respect to the opposite ends. An encased, self-contained data storage drive, having an interface, is mounted in the cartridge. The data storage drive is positioned in the cartridge shell such that the drive interface is positioned toward a first end and away from a second end of the opposite ends of the cartridge shell.
Dual flex cables extend from the drive interface. Specifically, a first of the flex cables extends from the data storage drive interface around the data storage drive to the external interface at the second end of the opposite ends of the cartridge shell, and a second of the flex cables extends from the data storage drive interface, initially around the data storage drive toward the second end of the opposite ends of the cartridge shell, and reverses direction and extends to the external interface at the first end of the opposite ends of the cartridge shell.
Thus, the portable data storage drive cartridge may be rotated from one of the opposite directions end over end to a reverse of the opposite directions. In the event one of the external interfaces becomes unreliable, the portable data storage drive cartridge may be rotated end over end so that the other external interface is utilized.
If a mobile transfer station port is provided on a picker of an automated data storage library, it may provide data transfer with respect to a data storage drive portable data storage cartridge at one of the external interfaces during transport of the data storage drive portable data storage cartridge to a data storage transfer station port. When the cartridge arrives at the transfer station port, a picker then inserts the cartridge at the port to provide data transfer with respect to the other of the external interfaces of the data storage drive portable data storage cartridge. Thus, the external interfaces at each end of the cartridge reduce the time to initially access data on the cartridge.
For a fuller understanding of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.